Is the bible speaking about NoFap ?

CHAPTER 4
Resist Not Evil
And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it
is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that
thy whole body should be cast into hell.
And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it it from thee: for it
is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that
thy whole body should be cast into heII.
(MATTHEW V)
THE soul's integrity is the one and only thing that matters. We have no
problem but to bring this about, no need but to obtain this; for having
this, we have all. And so Jesus in his teaching is almost exclusively
concerned in impressing us with the overwhelming fact of its impor-
tance, and with instructing us in how we are to accomplish it. He insists
that positively no sacrifice can be too great to insure the integrity of
one's soul. Anything, anything that stands in the way of that, must be
given up. Cost what it will, involve what it may, the integrity of the soul
must be preserved; for all other things—conduct, health, prosperity; for
all other things—conduct, health, prosperity, life itself—follow upon
that. Better sacrifice your right eye itself, he says, or cut off your very
right hand, if need be, that your soul may obtain the clarity of under-
standing that is salvation.
It matters not what the thing may be that is standing between us and our
true contact with God—it must go. It may be a sin, it may be an old
grudge left unforgiven, it may be stark greed for the things of this world;
but whatever it is, it must go. Such things as these, however, are so
obvious that at least the transgressor is certain to be aware of them; it is
the subtle things like self-love and his brother self-righteousness,
spiritual pride, and so forth, that are most difficult for the self to detect

 

CHAPTER 4
Resist Not Evil
And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it
is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that
thy whole body should be cast into hell.
And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it it from thee: for it
is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that
thy whole body should be cast into heII.
(MATTHEW V)
THE soul's integrity is the one and only thing that matters. We have no
problem but to bring this about, no need but to obtain this; for having
this, we have all. And so Jesus in his teaching is almost exclusively
concerned in impressing us with the overwhelming fact of its impor-
tance, and with instructing us in how we are to accomplish it. He insists
that positively no sacrifice can be too great to insure the integrity of
one's soul. Anything, anything that stands in the way of that, must be
given up. Cost what it will, involve what it may, the integrity of the soul
must be preserved; for all other things—conduct, health, prosperity; for
all other things—conduct, health, prosperity, life itself—follow upon
that. Better sacrifice your right eye itself, he says, or cut off your very
right hand, if need be, that your soul may obtain the clarity of under-
standing that is salvation.
It matters not what the thing may be that is standing between us and our
true contact with God—it must go. It may be a sin, it may be an old
grudge left unforgiven, it may be stark greed for the things of this world;
but whatever it is, it must go. Such things as these, however, are so
obvious that at least the transgressor is certain to be aware of them; it is
the subtle things like self-love and his brother self-righteousness,
spiritual pride, and so forth, that are most difficult for the self to detect.
and to exercise—but it must be done. It sometimes happens that the
practice of a certain profession, or the association with certain people, or
membership of some particular body is what is standing in our way; and
if such is the case, we must not hesitate; the price must be paid.

From the book - The Sermon on the Mount by Emmet Fox

 

It is a very good thing that people dispute sources. The porn industry says porn is a good thing. Always check for biases.

 

Well anyway it does make it clear, that if your hand tempts you.
I quote him because I don't have english version available

They didn't care about that, they even cut young boys genitals to have proper sounding choir to sing in the church.

 

Savage level; 1,000,000,000,000.

Sounds like a Catholic church thing.

 

At some point you have to decide who to believe. Or else you will be as the scripture terms it..."ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." 2 Timothy 3:7.

 

I don't think the Bible speaks about NoFap, but I do agree that it speaks about temptation and us giving into or resisting temptation (something that happens with NoFap).

The Bible is VERY explicit about all kinds of different sex, but it is unusually quiet on the topic of masturbation. If masturbation was such a big deal to God, then you'd think somewhere amongst all of those pages it would say ''Man shall not do to himself that which only a woman should do to him" (or roles reversed). The Bible isn't bashful about calling a spade a spade when it wants.

I would caution against people thinking that masturbation is immoral or in some way a sin, because such an attitude can easily lead to excessive guilt and condemnation, but also self-righteous judgment towards people who do masturbate. I believe it's a God given safety valve for the purpose of actually helping us to not give into the real sin of fornication. Perhaps part of the problem with how we view masturbation is because (especially in this day and age) it's is/has been tied up heavily with porn. Because we feel bad/dirty masturbating to porn, we somehow assume the masturbation is a part of the problem (or is the problem). I think it's important to separate them. Masturbation is fine - masturbating while watching porn is not. I also think if we do masturbate we shouldn't think of people we have seen or know in real life. Keep it fantasy.

Masturbation can be overdone, and that in itself has it's own problems like with any desire for pleasure/addiction. But that's a different issue i.e. the addiction, rather than the substance (so to speak). Chocolate cake isn't evil, but if you can't control your desire/addiction for chocolate cake so that you overeat until you're sick, get irritable when you don't have chocolate cake, or your desire for chocolate cake leads you to steal from someone to get it, then there's a problem there. You need to cut back on, or cut out the chocolate cake until you break that addiction, and then maybe learn how to have your cake, but then say no next time a slice is passed around.

 

I don’t know about fapping, however, I felt the Holy Spirit speak to me yesterday. I have never felt so clear about bible verse but when He said that it’s better to pluck out your eye that causes you to sin and enter Heaven with one eye and inherit eternal life than to go to Hell with both eyes and perish.

 

Trying to find explicit verses in the Bible to say it prohibits something is dangerous ground. The scriptures do not explicitly condemn varied and perverse sexual acts but they are prohibited in principle.... (which is why in the Old Testament and New the Pharisees/Saducees debated whether it was ok to eat an egg produced by a chicken on the Sabbath)... but now that we are under Grace.. the Holy Spirit of God testifies to us what is righteousness (keeping in mind that the 'law of the Spirit' is higher than the 'law of Moses' .. See Matthew 5). Since it is impossible to masturbate without lusting... and lust is a sin... masturbation is indeed sinful. It is also a selfish act... one which seeks to "take into one's own hands" the pleasure designed by God to only be released in sexual intimacy with your covenant partner. It is for a similar reason that suicide is a sin... because YOU want to decide when you die... a right belonging to God alone. The highest form of love "agape" refers to a selfless love and it is this love that we should have for each other.

It is interesting also to note that the Bible is not silent on semen which is referred to in the KJV as "seed of copulation" Leviticus 15:17-19 and something that would make a man unclean.

 

I agree that there could be abuses with regards to searching the scriptures for clear and direct instructions on what to do or not to do, but on the whole, I think the Bible is pretty straightforward about what is right and what is wrong, and that by getting the Spirit of the law, we're also able to be flexible.

I don't think masturbation is impossible without lusting. I think the verse that people use to support this idea is Jesus saying in Matthew 5 that ''Anyone who looks upon a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her in his heart''. People assume that when we masturbate we're thinking about a woman then that means we're guilty of lust. But I don't think that's the right understanding of lust. My understanding of lust is wanting to do something or have something in real life that God has forbidden. Given the opportunity to get it or have it, and to get away with getting it or having it, we would, then that that is lust. I do think it's important to keep the fantasies as fantasies and not masturbate while imagining someone you know, because this is going to impact how you relate to that person, and could lead to lust i.e. actually wanting to ACT upon the fantasy but refraining from doing so simply because you may get caught. If that is what's happening, that is lust.

I think so much guilt and the reason for why people think masturbation is lust is because it has been tied up with pornography for so long, it's like both go hand in hand so to speak (excuse the pun). Mixing masturbation with pornography is lust because we're participating in a sexual act with real people. But masturbating in and of itself, even while imagining a fantasy woman is not. It's quite possible to masturbate and not think about a woman too, and just focus on the feeling.

As mentioned at the start, the Bible is very specific about sex acts that we shouldn't do e.g. fornication, etc, etc. Masturbating (I believe) is something God has given us/allows us, for the precise purpose of NOT being guilty of breaking the very clear rules he has given us. Churches around the world condemn masturbation, but if you look at the lives of most of the church goers they're fornicating left, right, and center, because they feel guilty about masturbating, and so they end up doing something that actually is wrong.

You say masturbation is a pleasure designed by God to "only be released in sexual intimacy with our covenant partner". What about wet dreams? We don't have control over wet dreams, and certainly they too are a part of God's design for dealing with the sexual tensions/build up that we have in our bodies. I think it's so easy to create heavy burdens that God is not putting on us, and go to extremes, when that is not what God is saying at all. I believe that his burden is light. I haven't read in the Bible or in the teachings of Jesus that ejaculation or masturbation is something that should only happen with our marriage partner (though I have read that God says not to have various kinds of immoral sex). Perhaps you can share where you have come up with this thought?

As an example of that light burden, without the guilt and extremes, this is how I view the situation (and I believe it's very manageable for everyone). I believe (from the Bible and the teachings of Jesus) that we should not have sex with someone outside of marriage, and that if we're able to be single for God, then this is the preferred option (as Jesus stated and lived). Sounds tough, especially in todays world where sleeping around is seen as normal and is in fact promoted as being 'healthy'. BUT, there is relief! We can masturbate. So in the meantime while we're not married or are choosing to be celibate, we still have a very strong biological urge (God-given) to ejaculate. If we don't want to break God's rules e.g sex outside of marriage, then masturbating (while not thinking of real people or watching porn) is a perfectly healthy and legitimate way to do so.

I think the bottom line is that people need to find their own way with this in their relationship with God, but I do think saying masturbating is a sin, is a heavy burden, a burden God does not put on people, and one that actually leads people to do the very things that God has clearly said not to do.

 

@Pieman Are you a born-again Christian?

 

Exhibit A

 

Is there such a thing as Christian who isn't born again?

 

I'm sorry, but there is literally hundreds of these kind of videos related to any number of things that people deem a 'sin'. So many of them are people just giving into emotionalism and the manipulation of the charlatan preachers. This to me is not evidence of someone being delivered from the 'spirit of masturbation', or even evidence that there IS a 'spirit of masturbation'.

If people think God doesn't want them to masturbate, then sure, don't masturbate. But do so because you genuinely believe this is what God is saying, and not because you've been suckered into believing all the religious condemnation about something that is (in my understanding of what God has said through the Bible and Jesus) not a sin. The point I was making in my post is that the guilt and unnecessary heavy burden placed on people to not masturbate, actually leads them to do the very things that God says NOT to do e.g. fornication. If you can refrain from masturbating, but also refrain from having sex with someone who you're not married to, fair play (but I don't think you need to refrain from masturbation). I don't think people need to be made to feel guilty for jerking off precisely so they DON'T go against the very clear rules that God has given.

 

Hai . . . Maybe this verse answer your question

"“Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts” (Romans 13:13-14)

 

Hi Little kitty,

Thanks for the verse. I agree with the thoughts that Paul says. However, there is nothing in the Bible to suggest that masturbation is the same as sexual promiscuity. As for 'making no provision for the flesh with regards to its lust' - I agree. But again, please consider my earlier posts about what constitutes lust. Lust is wanting to do something that God has forbidden. If you can show me clearly in the Bible where it says ''A man or woman should not do to themselves what only a man or woman should do", then I may rethink my position. And as I have shared, one of the best ways to 'not make provision for the flesh and its lusts' e.g. fornication (which God said is wrong) is to masturbate (something God does not say is wrong).

Being made to feel guilty for wanting to masturbate and enjoy the pleasure that comes with it, is a bit like being made to feel guilty for making provision to have chocolate cake something that's going to set off a whole bunch of pleasure signals on your tongue to your brain, etc.

 

Some times holy books of religions just give us a short informations.like "don't do that,don't do this,and don't bla bla blah".but that give us opportunities to make question "why".and sure because we re courius,we will learn and searching the answer.we all know that masturbation have a bad side effect.and i think we re here because we want to stop that bad habbit.maybe in bible not actually said that "word",but bible said don't follow something that bad for you.and i like the idea about chocolate cake,it will be very nice if you share one piece of cake with me.

 

Hi Little Kitty,

Masturbation CAN have a bad side effect, but I also think it's helpful to work out what constitutes a 'bad side-effect', and then question whether that bad side-effect constitutes the notion that masturbation is immoral.

There certainly are various levels of 'effects' that happen when one masturbates, some more good/positive/beneficial, and some definitely not so. One side effect that is fairly common, but I don't think happens with each 5 knuckle shuffle is a depletion in energy i.e. we feel tired. One could argue that the depletion in energy is 'bad' for you, and as such you shouldn't wank. But the same argument can be applied to almost anything. Being alive has a pretty bad side-effect, i.e. dying Eating food has a bad side-effect i.e. it can also make you lethargic, you can get bad cholesterol, heart-burn, cavities in your teeth, perhaps too much sugar may mess about with your brain and make you overly happy and then you crash or really negative. So, we recognize there is positives and negatives that come with almost all choices in life. I don't think it's any different with masturbation. Just like someone who is addicted to food will suffer serious negative consequences because of that addiction, it does not mean that the food is bad, it just means that person needs to regulate how much they eat, what they eat, and what they'll DO in order to get what they desire. So with masturbation, it definitely CAN be overdone, which can lead to negative effects, but it's also possible for people to to regulate it, i.e. don't watch porn, don't fantasies about someone you know, don't use it as a crutch for emotional problems in your life, etc, etc. Doing this can help us to have masturbation as a healthy part of our lives, and not become a problem.

As Paul says, ''Anything that is not of faith is sin", so if someone genuinely believes that masturbation is wrong, then that's between them and God, and they should try and follow what they think God is saying. I don't think it's a sin, and I think I have presented some reasonably logical answers for why. But I also don't want people to feel guilty and condemned for something that I believe God allows, for the direct purpose of aiding us to NOT do the things he clearly has spelled out as wrong e.g. fornication.



There you go Little Kitty.